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Divorce & Legal Separation Attorneys

When most individuals take their vows, they tend to believe that they will spend the rest of their life with the person beside them. In reality, a great many marriages tend to fail, and this can happy for a variety of reasons. The important thing to keep in mind is that while the causes behind the divorce might vary, the emotions that one tends to elicit usually don’t. Divorce is a very emotional time, in other words, and one that could have a big impact upon your future if you do not ensure that your rights are being looked after.

In order to make sure that your divorce is completed legally and does not cause you undue stress, you should consider reaching out to an experienced Illinois divorce attorney who understands how to best handle your case. At Van Der Snick Law Firm, LTD we understand just how difficult divorce can be. We are ready and willing to take on your case and work hard so that you do not have to while going through the stress that the dissolution of marriage can cause. Additionally, we will keep track of important filing deadlines and come up with a strategy to help ensure that your financial needs are taken care of, if applicable.

Legal Separation

Note that Illinois recognizes both at-fault and no-fault divorces. Before a no-fault divorce can be granted, a couple in Illinois that agree to the divorce terms must wait six months. Should one of the parties not agree to the divorce, however, then the couple must be separated for two years before a divorce can be granted.

Things are a bit different when at-fault divorces are taken into account. When a no-fault divorce is filed, the petition is essentially explaining that the couple has irreconcilable differences that cannot be fixed, but that neither party is the sole reason for the divorce. No one party is at fault for the dissolution of the marriage, in other words, which means that the divorce is a no-fault one. Should one party be entirely at fault for the dissolution of the marriage in question, however, then the aggrieved party may file for an at-fault divorce.

There are a variety of different reasons that can be used to claim an at-fault divorce, including:

Adultery

Impotence

Bigamy

Cruelty

Desertion

Felony Conviction

Depending upon the circumstances, the courts might determine that the couple should attend counseling or a conciliation conference, particularly if there are children involved. Should the divorce be granted on at-fault grounds, then it doesn’t matter if both parties agree to the divorce or if they have been separated for two years. At-fault divorces differ in that they can sometimes be granted more quickly than no-fault divorces.

In addition to divorce, Illinois recognizes something known as legal separation. When a couple legally separates, they live separately from each other both financially and physically. Note that this does not actually dissolve the marriage. The couple are still married, they simply no longer live together. A legal separation does, however, still take care of issues like property division and child custody – it just does so without the marriage officially ending. Legal separations are not overly common in Illinois because the process to obtain them is not much easier than going through with an actual divorce, and many individuals decide that divorce is simply the better option. With that said, an experienced attorney from Van Der Snick Law Firm, LTD can help you obtain your legal separation.

Property Division

In Illinois, marital property is distributed fairly, although not necessarily equally. This is known as equitable distribution, and it is intended to ensure that spouses receive the property to which they are entitled. Instead of just distributing the property in question between two parties without any consideration as to the actual owner of the property or who has put in the most work to the property, the courts in Illinois take time to consider things like the duration the marriage lasted, the value of the property in question, and even the economic situation of the spouses. They then distribute the property in a way that is fair to both spouses.

Alimony and Child Support

In certain cases, divorces in Illinois might result in an order to alimony, also known as spousal maintenance. Note that the amount of the alimony does not increase should the divorce be an at-fault one. Instead, the court takes the economic situations of the spouses into consideration and makes their ruling based upon their findings.

Should children be involved in the divorce, a child support and child custody agreement will be drawn up as part of the divorce. The non-custodial parent generally pays child support, however parenting time also factors into the court’s decision.

Contact A Top Divorce & Legal Separation Lawyer For Help Today!

For more information about divorce and legal separation in Illinois, contact Van Der Snick Law Firm, LTD today!